Of Pranksters And Masks
by WildNoa13474
Summary: Robin goes to Hogwarts. Be prepared for secrets, pranks, craziness and above all: the great Triwizard Tournament!
1. Prologue

Prologue

"Grayson! No, don't leave me! You said you wouldn't leave me! You promised..." The voice trailed off in a chocked sob.

Nightwing couldn't make out the figure standing over him, his vision blurred. "D-Damian?" He managed to croak. A voice in the back of his head that sounded suspiciously like Bruce reminded him not to use names in the field, but Nightwing ignored it.

He was struggling to stay awake. The pain from earlier had faded to numbness. He wasn't sure what was worse.

"Damian, y-" You're supposed to be in bed, he wanted to say, but he choked on the words. He was sent into a painful coughing fit. When it finally stopped he saw blackness at the edges of his vision threatening to overtake him.

Damian was saying something else, his panicked tone echoing in Nightwing's head. He couldn't make out words.

He felt strangely peaceful, knowing he was going to die. He shot a weak smile at his little brother, trying to be reassuring, then let the sleep overcome him, knowing that he would never wake up. The last thing he felt was a vaguely guilty feeling that he was leaving Damian.

* * *

He shot awake. For a second his eyes were wide with fear, panic and confusion, then his instincts kicked in and he hid his emotions behind a mask of seriousness. But inside his head there was a storm.

What was happening? Didn't he die? Why was his (dead) team there? He forced himself to calm down. Dick went through the options, like Batman taught him to. Batman, who was dead yet standing there in front of him... He mentally shook his head and focused.

Was this Heaven? No, his teammates looked as confused as he was, and they died long before him. Time travel? He discarded this option too, as he couldn't remember ever living this moment. An illusion then? That seemed like the most logical explanation, but he reminded himself not to jump to conclusions.

His thinking was interrupted by Miss M's exclamation of "You're all alive!". He kept silent. As he listened to Batman's explanation of the failed training exercise he felt horribly numb.

He remembered now. He almost wished he didn't. That was it then? The whole life he built for himself, all the people he met, all the family he lost and gained, it was all fake?

The next realization shocked him out of his numbness. J'onn, M'gann and Wally didn't survive the explosion, he checked. That meant he was the only one who had another life there... And nobody knew.


	2. Pack

A/N What happened in The Prologue is not that big a part of this story, just adding things like thinking about it, being more mature when the situation requires it of him, knowing fighting moves that he learned as Nightwing, and in case- oh, who am I kidding, when- he comes across a Dementor. It becomes a bigger part in the sequel I already had planned before I began this story.

(line)

Of Pranksters and Masks

1

~11 months later~  
Dick sighed as he stared out the window. He had never been so bored in his entire life.

You know, when he first heard that he was going to a school for Witchcraft and Wizardry it sounded a whole lot more exiting than just sitting on a train doing nothing for more than three hours.

He sighed again and tried lying down. Then he started pacing just to do something. Finally he decided to just look for someone to harass.

Dick wandered down the hallway, occasionally glancing into a compartment and dismissing the people inside as boring, bitchy, self-centered or all three.

He saw one compartment with a pretty interesting girl, but she looked far too into her magazine to hold a good conversation with.

Finally he saw people more to his liking. There were two redheaded twins with just a 'troublemaker' look about them.

Dick knocked on the door -because he wasn't a total asshole as to just barge in- and opened the door.

He smirked confidently. "Can I come in? You look like good companions."

(line)

Dick cackled as he sprinted away from the still empty compartment where he just hung cameras.

Fred and George had gotten incredibly exited over the prospect of a device that let you watch things from far away, and Dick had no objections to demonstrating it's worth.

Fred and George were already watching the camera feed on his laptop when he opened the compartment door, and looked up curiously at his arrival.

"What did you do?" Fred asked.

He didn't fill them in on the plan beforehand, just said he was pranking somebody and slipped away.

He awnsered with his trademark smirk on his lips.

"I waited 'till the people in the compartment left to put on their robes and I put a combination of a sound and a timer charm on the ceiling. Simple but effective. Whenever I want to annoy those guys I just do this-"

Dick ticked his ebony wand against the wall he was leaning on, and a few seconds later a high peep was heard from the laptop speakers.

Fred and George were wearing matching grins now.

Dick tapped the wall again, and spoke into his wand like it was a microphone. "I can also do this- Don't worry, the pranked compartment is soundproof."

A few seconds later his voice came through the speakers of his laptop, saying those exact words.

"Where have you been all my life!" George exclaimed happily.

"Yeah, it was about time Hogwarts got a new prankster. Why are you going to Hogwarts late anyway?"

"Apparently something went wrong with my records." Dick shrugged.

"I was actually supposed to go to some school in America, but they don't take late students. I was taking summer classes to catch up with Hogwarts stuff. Not that it was hard." He added the last part as afterthought.

It was true; Dick was a fast learner, and homeschooling Damian helped developing that particular skill.

In comparison with teaching Gotham history learning spells was like aerobatics; one of the easier things in life.

The twins looked impressed.

"Are you sure you're not exaggerating a bit?"

Dick frowned. "No, I'm serious. It's just Latin and some wand movements. I already know Latin, so.."

He trailed off when he saw movement on his laptop screen.

Fred and George followed his gaze and watched as a girl with bushy brown hair and a red and gold tie entered the compartment, followed by a kid with glasses and green eyes that looked so much like Dami's that Dick cringed.

After them a boy with red hair and freckles entered. Dick glanced at the twins.

"Your brother?"

Fred nodded, grinning.

"Looks like Ronniekins got himself into a bit of a situation." George snickered, looking evilly at his still oblivious brother and his friends.

With a mischievous look in his eyes, Dick ticked his wand against the wall.

(line)

Harry jumped as he heard a high-pitched peep echoed through the compartment. He looked quizzically at Hermione, after all, she knows everything, but when she shook her head he shrugged. Probably just a squel of one of his admirers.

He couldn't wait to get to Hogwarts. Banquets, admirers, what wasn't to like about it?

Exept Malfoy, always calling him an arrogant prick. He scoffed. Ha! Him? Arrogant? As if.

Another peep sounded in the compartment, and even Hermione stopped bickering with Ron long enough to look around.

"Think there's something wrong with the intercom system?" Harry asked.

Hermione frowned. "Harry, there's no intercom system on the Hogwarts Express. Announcements are made with the amplifier charm."

Harry shrugged, not really caring.

Suddenly a choked voice sounded in the compartment, managing "Th-they're coming! Everyone run! Ru-" Before it was cut off.

Hermione shrieked in fear, Ron looked like he was about to faint and Harry... Well, he would deny it later, but he screamed like a girl.

The trio rushed out the door, screaming about monsters and alien invasions.

(line)

Meanwhile back in the Prankster compartment the other trio was laughing their heads off as Dick replayed the screams on the laptop.

When they finally calmed down a bit a still smirking George said, "Okay, you've earned your rite of passage-"

"But now that we're a group-" Fred continued, "We have to name that group." Dick finished.

They smirked at each other and Dick couldn't help but feel like he belonged here.

"How 'bout the Pack?" He suggested, thinking of Wolf. He had always felt a kind of bond with him, a mutual understanding.

It was the same kind of bond he felt with the twins.

The latter looked thoughtful. "As in wolves?" George asked. "Sounds good!" Fred added.

"But in that case-"

"We also have to have nicknames!"

A few minutes later George AKA Aurum (gold), Fred AKA Rubrum (red) and Dick AKA Avem (bird) were interrupted by three people running past their compartment screaming like maniacs, to which the newly formed Pack promptly burst out laughing again.

(line)

The Pack was in a heated discussion about who would eat the last Chocolate Frog when Fred brought up a totally random but valid point.

"Hey Avem, you know you can't use that lap-lop thing at Hogwarts, right? Muggle technology doesn't work at school."

Dick smirked at that. His grin looked somewhere between mischievous and plain evil.

"Oh really?" He asked.  
Finally, a challenge.

(Line)

At some point during the ride Dick must have drifted off, because the next thing he knew Rubrum was shaking him awake, saying, "Avem, better wake up mate, we're almost there."

Dick yawned and opened his eyes slowly, even though he was immediately wide awake.

Fred was right, Dick could already feel the train slowing to a stop.

Years of experience made him get a small mirror out of his trunk. He quickly checked his body.

Shirt - Check.  
Hair - Still the same color.  
Glitters - None.

Satisfied, he put his mirror away. He simply smirked at the twins' raised eyebrows, and reached for his truck when Aurum said: "Don't bother, Avem, the trunks get magically transported to the dorms."

Dick nodded, but frowned at the statement. "Do they go through our stuff or something?"

He wasn't that worried, his personal stuff was hidden in a secret bat-compartement after all, and only him, Bruce and Alfred could access it, but he couldn't help but be disturbed by the concept. Who knew what things are hidden in a teenagers bag?

Luckily Fred shook his head, chuckling at Avem's face. "They only magically scan for dark objects, nothing else." Dick's relief must have been evident, because George started grinning too.

Dick's friends practically dragged him off the train and to the carriages, ignoring the calls of the giant guy ("First years over here!"), reasoning that he was to join fourth year, so he would go by carriage.

Dick gratefully took a breath of fresh air. Sure, the ride was as fun as a 3-hour train ride could be, but being cooped up for a longer period of time just wasn't his thing.

When the group finally broke through the crowd and arrived at the first carriage, that was miraculously still empty, Dick stared in wonder at the black, skeletal horse in front of it; the flowing manes, the proud stance... He wanted one!

George saw him staring and got a strange feeling that the reaction was too intense to be just a reaction to the self-riding carriages, but explained anyway: "The carriages always pull themselves. As far as I know, they always have."

Dick looked up when he heard no trace of surprise in the redhead's voice, no indication that this year the carriages were not pulling themselves.

He followed Aurum's gaze and realized that he was looking straight through the horse, like it wasn't even there. Surprised, he just nodded wordlessly and climbed into the carriage after Fred.

When they rounded a bend the slight guilt he had been feeling ever since leaving his team and motor to fend for themselves, even though he knew they could handle it, ebbed away at the sight of the huge castle in front of him. Because this was totally worth it.

Dick couldn't help but gape. He had never seen anything like this in his entire life.

Hogwarts was a beautiful area with little windows of light everywhere, so it looked like there were a thousand fireflies in the night sky.

It was a truly whelming sight to see.

And Richard, Robin, Avem and Dick were all ready to make the place even more whelming.

(Line)

A/N The nicknames were thought up with Google Translate Latin, so for all you fluent Latin speakers out of there (I'm looking at you, Grayson) sorry if it's a bit off. First when I typed in Bird it said Avis, but since that's a spell... Well, let's just say I don't want birds to shoot out the twin's wands every time they say it with their wands in their hands.

Quick recap:  
Fred = Rubrum (Red)  
George = Aurum (Gold)  
Dick = Avem (Bird)


	3. Sorting

As soon as he exited the carriage with his new friends, Dick was pulled aside by the same professor that came by the mansion to explain about the magical world, what was she called again, McGonnal...?

"You'll be sorted with the first years." Professor... McGonanaw? said, brisk but not unfriendly. "I expect you to be on your best behavior and do your house, whichever it will be, proud."

She narrowed her eyes and glared at him with a stern look. Dick got the feeling she was looking straight at his 'troublemaker' aura.

"Yes professor." He gave her his most charming smile and blinked innocent eyes at her. It seemed to work because her glare softened and she nodded encouragingly at him before motioning in the direction of the chamber where the first years would be waiting.

Before walking to the side door, he threw a look over his shoulder at Fred and George, who grinned and gave him a thumbs up. Dick grinned back. He was exited, even though he didn't show it. After all, the coming event decided where and with who he was going to live for the next three years.

He hoped he was put in Griffindor, after all, that's where his Pack was, but Dick supposed he could deal with Ravenclaw or Slytherin too. He knew he would be judged and labeled if he did end up in Slytherin, but he heard stories from Rubrum and Aurum and knew that not all Slytherins were evil, but were overshadowed by the reputation and history of their house. Not that the fact that the vast majority of Slytherin were bullies helped. It was easy to forget that Merlin himself was sorted in Slytherin, Dick guessed.

Dick knew there was a vast possibility of him ending up in Slytherin and had long since decided that if he did, he would change that reputation for good. Of course, he still hoped he would join Griffindor, but as mentioned earlier, he was more likely to be a Slytherin. You know, cunning, stealth, ambition... Dick was honestly surprised the twins didn't end up in Slytherin.

He was shaken out of his thoughts when another door opened- Dick could've sworn it wasn't there before - to show a large group of kids flocking together and whispering nervously. Those must be the first years. He got a few odd looks, but most of the first years were too worried about fighting trolls or - Dick chuckled at that one - kissing a teacher to prove they were brave enough to get into Gryffindor. One firstie thought he had to defeat the Riddler to make it into Ravenclaw.

As he marveled over the creativity of the statements spoken around him Dick noticed ghosts floating overhead. Evidently, others saw them too, because he heard several gasps of shock or fear. Dick just grinned and waved at the ghosts - who were pretending to only notice the first-years now. Dick betted they did this every year. He had seen way worse than ghosts. That's why he wasn't shocked. It not as if his pranksters-in-arms told him that there were ghosts at Hogwarts or something. Pfffft. No, that would be ridiculous.

Professor McGonnagal(was that it?) came in through the huge doors presumably leading to the Great Hall(when did she leave...?), and told them to enter. The new students shuffled forward, nervous or, in Dick's case, relaxed and calm. Well, on the outside at least. He was actually pretty excited. It wasn't every day he gets shipped off to a magic school in England. Although maybe shipped off wasn't the right word, since he used the zeta-beams to get to Britain.

He had a bad habit of getting sidetracked. Anyhow, McGonagal was now calling names in alphabetic order, and Dick wasn't all that surprised to see a hat shouting the names of houses. He doubted anything could surprise him anymore.

"Grayson, Richard!" was called next. As Dick walked up to the stool he heard decidedly unsubtle whispers about his age, emphasis on the un.

"Why is he getting sorted? He's like, a second year!" Reached Dick's ears, and he smiled slightly in amusement.

 _Seriously? I'm fourteen._ _Physically._

"Who's the kid?" Dick bristled at that one, his amusement gone instantly. He resisted the urge to walk up and punch the dude.

 _I am_ _not_ _a kid. Not anymore._

The hat actually fit on his head, unlike with the first years that had gone before him.

 _'Well well well, what do we have here?'_

Dick's eyes widened at the unexpected voice in his head, but that was the only outward reaction he gave as he strengthened his mental shields. He silently thanked M'Gann for the anti-telepath training she gave to the team after the Simon incident.

 _'Boy, I can't sort you like this. I have to have a look at your personality at the very least, memories would be better.'_

This thing was annoying. Seriously, which idiot invented a talking hat?

Yeah, no. After multiple mind incidents there was no _way_ Robin was going to let his mental walls down. But, maybe only a glance at his general personality..

' _Hmm, good enough. Let's see.. Loyal, but not outstandingly so. Smart, but uninterested in knowledge simply for the sake of it. Either Slytherin_ _or Gryffindor then._

' _You're sneaky, and good at strategizing. Courage, a lot of courage. However, you know better than to recklessly endanger yourself without a plan. Think first, act later. Not to mention the amount of ambition. You believe you really_ can _change the world._ _Truly, there's only one place for you. This one will be..._ '

"Slytherin!" Robin felt the hat's presence leave his mind and relaxed slightly, before grinning at the crowd of students. The table with the green banner, Slytherin, was politely clapping, while the rest of the hall shot incredulous looks at the Gryffindor table where Fred and George had begun cheering and whooping loudly. Dick couldn't help but grin widely at his friends.

Handing the hat back to Ms. McGonnagal, he walked off the stage to what would become his new life. It was time to take Slytherin's reputation, bash it in with a baseball bat and rebuild it from the ground up.

 **Yeah, so, update. HOLY COW YOU UPDATED WILDROSA why yes, yes I did.**

 **I'm pretty sure all of you already knew which house Dick was gonna be in. In case you didn't, well, the obvious choice was Slytherin. While thirteen year old Dick may have been able to get into Gryffindor, however doubtful, mentally Dick has grown up and is mature and even less of a reckless daredevil than he was.**


	4. Welcome

When Dick retired for the night, it was smug.

The food at dinner had been delicious- not as good as an Alfred meal, but a solid second- and the scorning looks thrown his way only improved his mood.

Apparently no one at his house's table was allowed to be ginning cheerfully. Who knew.

After dinner Dumbledore announced some sort of tournament thingy, which Dick was still considering entering. There was an age restriction, but assuming it was enforced magically he'd probably still qualify.

Step one was in action. Step one, of course, being letting his particularly contagious brand of crazy spread around the house, infecting person by person until he'd gotten them all on his side.

His housemates, while giving him distrusting looks and hateful glares, didn't confront him, so it was with a smile that he entered the shared dorms and bounced onto his bed.

He grabbed a notebook and pen and scribbled down a quick to-do list.

 _-Project House of Evil_

Slytherin's reputation, the house of evil. Not for long, if Dick had anything to say about it. Then he looked at it again and snickered. Project HOE.

 _-Tournament thingy_

Yeah, that was still under construction.

 _-Get laptop to work_

To help pull off pranks, of course. Not to hack the League database and cheat in his Minesweeper highscore. Nooo.

- _Explore the castle_

Now this was something that could take a whole year, judging by the look of the castle he'd gotten from outside. Although with the twins' help it would probably be shorter.

Dick decided to leave any actual planning for the morning and got ready for bed, not bothered by his dormmates' stares. Falling asleep was easy, as he was trained to, because with his hectic schedule he needed all the sleep he could get.

Before Dick knew it, the morning sun woke him- wait, how was there morning sun in the dungeons? Seriously, these dungeons were made for torture or something.

Dick groaned as he curled into a ball, blocking out the sun. He was decidedly _not_ a morning person.

"Should we leave him there?" An uncomfortable sounding voice contemplated. "That's not right, is it? He might miss breakfast."

"Well what do you suggest, wake him up?" Another voice snapped impatiently. Dick recognized it as one of his yearmates, a blonde who was very loud at dinner yesterday.

There was a hesitant silence, and finally the same voice spoke again. "Come on. If he's late that's his own fault."

Dick heard their footsteps go out of the room and down the stairs, and he yawned, sitting up.

He got ready leisurely, enjoying the silence and keeping an eye on the time. He hummed softly under his breath as he walked downstairs, not looking where he was going, and ended up extremely, impeccably lost.

That was a bit irritating. He'd like to eat breakfast today, thank you very much, not to mention that the schedules would be handed out this morning in the Great Hall and Dick doubted his classmates would take his. Well, take it maybe, but not give it to him afterwards.

After a bit of wandering aimlessly and asking some _talking portraits_ for directions, because apparently that was a thing now, Dick saw a vaguely familiar girl about his age down the hall.

"Hey!" He called and waved, increasing his pace a bit. The girl looked up, and Dick realized he'd seen her on the train yesterday.

"Hi, I'm Dick, I just transferred here." Dick grinned charmingly and held out his hand for a handshake, surprised when the girl did a curtsy instead.

"Luna Lovegood." She replied dreamily. "You know, you have a surprisingly lack of Nargles around you."

Dick blinked. "Nargles?"

"They're a relative of the Nagel, and mainly prey on teenagers." Luna replied cheerfully, apparently unbothered by Dick's lack of knowledge.

"Cool." Dick grinned. "I'm actually hopelessly lost, can you tell me which way the hall is?"

"I don't know," Luna smiled, "but just walk towards the moon, you'll always get there. Here, I'll walk with you."

Dick was slightly confused. The moon had already dissappeared, how would you know where it is?

Eh, probably magic. He shrugged and walked with Luna.

Now that there was a comfortable silence, he took the opportunity to study Luna. She was smiling, her radish earrings complimenting the Ravenclaw tie she was wearing.

"Why were you in the corridors, anyway?" He asked curiously.

"I lost my necklace," She had a distant look in her eyes, though she kept smiling. "It usually turns up somewhere in the castle."

"You lose it a lot?" Dick asked, surprised.

"The Crumple-Horned Snorlaks like to play with it." Luna shrugged lightly. Dick opened his mouth to respond, but then saw the Great Hall's double doors.

"There it is!" He said instead, happily. "Thanks for your help!"

"Remember to watch out for potatoes!" She said before he opened the doors, and when he hesitated, she leant in conspiratorially and whispered loudly, "They're evil."

Dick nodded seriously and opened one of the doors, holding it open for Luna, who smiled a little brighter. He walked in after her, and to his own table, where a dark-haired teacher was just handing out schedules.

Today was a nice day, Dick noticed, enjoying the sun from the windows as he studied his schedule. First hour was History of Magic, then Charms, then Muggle Studies, which was one of the elective subjects Dick had chosen. That one and Arithmancy should help with getting Muggleborn technology to work with magic.

He noticed the twins waving from him and waved back, grinning. This was going well.

 **A/N** **So yes, it's been a while since I updated this fic, and my writing style has changed. Sorry if you don't like it anymore.**

 **I read back what I wrote and it's actually not as bad as I feared it would be. The only really cringy parts are the naming of the Pack and... 'betted'. *shivers*** **Nice job, Past Me.**


End file.
